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RE: [RC] eating on the trail - Susan & Jerry MilamI have to push my gelding's head down to remind him to eat. He's so focused on the trail and horses he needs to catch, it's hard to get him to eat and relax on trail. Our other guys are very relaxed and eat when we stop almost automatically. We train with other endurance people so they don't mind this behavior, but your people may object to it. My guess is that the people you ride with don't average a speed much more that 4-5 MPH for any distance at all. Have them do a 10 mile ride with you at an average of 6MPH or better and see what their opinion of traveling over distance is after that. You must do about 6MPH average to complete any LD or longer to make up for your vet timed holds. A couple friends and I hosted a newbie endurance clinic last summer at a local SP. These guys were the same as your friends, thought they traveled at a good pace and didn't really give much thought about what endurnace really does demand of horse and rider. We had about 8 riders show up for the clinic and only did an 8 mile loop and didn't even average 6MPH. These guys were beat afterwards and had a new respect for what endurance riders go through. Just loosen your reins and allow your horse to eat. If he doesn't understand, get off and lead him to graze. I have a rein keeper that hooks to the saddle and loops around the reins, so when I let go of the rein, the keeper holds onto it, so I can relax while they are grazing. Marvelous invention for sure. The horse enjoys the freedom with his head too. Of course you have to trust the horse to really benefit from the rein keeper:) In His Hands, Susan, Fly Bye & Dandy "All you have to decide is what to do with the time you are given." Gandalf the Grey of Lord of the Rings -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jennifer Adam Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 7:32 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] eating on the trail Well, a while back I said I would take a break from asking dumb newbie questions, but I can't - there's just too much I want to know! Sorry - and thanks for your patience. Here's another stupid question - I had a discussion with some horse people in my neighborhood last night about eating on the trail. Now, their main interest is western pleasure and halter - they don't see the big deal about endurance because they think any horse that can do a 10 mile trail can also do 100 - just takes more time (:-/. Two of them never ever let their horses snatch a bite once they have a halter on. The other two let them graze in halter, but once they saddle up the horses aren't allowed to eat at all. They were arguing that letting a horse snatch bites takes away his focus and keeps him from concentrating on his rider. I will admit - I've been on trail horses (those dude ranch kinds) that were so busy grabbing mouthfuls they hardly wanted to move down the trail. It can be an annoying habit, but I want my mare to learn how to eat on the go, how to eat quick when she needs to. So, my question is - how do I keep her concentration and let her eat when she needs to? How do you all handle it? Do you give a cue (lengthen the reins, whatever) to let your horses know it's okay to eat? Or do they just like to go so much that they automatically eat on the run? What is the right way to teach a horse when it's appropriate to eat and when they need to concentrate on moving out? I don't want to screw up my mare by doing something wrong. Thanks - Clueless and Curious, Jen _________________________________________________________________ Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfeeR Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= __________ NOD32 1.1575 (20060602) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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